Ex-prosecutor charged with treason in Mexico over US drug raid
César Jáuregui Moreno is accused of allowing US agents to join a raid on a suspected drugs lab in April.
**Former prosecutor charged with treason in Mexico over US drug raid**
Federal prosecutors in Mexico have filed treason charges against a former state prosecutor, accusing him of letting US agents take part in an April raid on a suspected drug lab without the required authorization.
César Jáuregui Moreno was the attorney general of the northern border state of Chihuahua from 2023 until this year.
The Americans’ role became known after two US agents, said to have been working for the CIA, died in a car crash in Chihuahua together with two Mexican law enforcement officers.
Attorney General Ernestina Godoy Ramos said Jáuregui had permitted foreign agents to carry out tasks reserved for Mexican authorities and had not shared information. Jáuregui has denied the accusations.
The former prosecutor, a member of the conservative opposition PAN party, was arrested over the weekend. A court hearing is set for Saturday.
A judge still has to decide whether there is sufficient evidence for the case to move forward, Reuters reports.
Jáuregui also faces state charges in Chihuahua, including abuse of public office. At a court hearing on those charges on Sunday, he denied that he ordered or agreed to the participation of US agents in the operation.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has faced pressure from US President Donald Trump to intensify action against drug trafficking, but she has repeatedly rejected offers of US-led anti-narcotics operations in Mexico.
She has insisted that foreign officials may operate on Mexican soil only with prior federal approval, and has maintained that the Latin American country’s sovereignty must not be violated.
The crash happened on 19 April, when a convoy returning from an operation against suspected methamphetamine labs in a remote mountainous area left the road and fell into a ravine.
Officials said two members of the Chihuahua State Investigation Agency were killed along with the Americans.
At the time, speaking as state attorney general, Jáuregui told a news conference that the Americans were "instructor officers" from the US embassy carrying out "training work as part of the general and normal exchange we have with the US authorities".
US media have reported that the two individuals worked for the CIA as part of an expanded effort to fight narcotics trafficking in the region.